Improvement in fabrics for beds of billiard and other tables and for other purposes



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS A. GRILL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN FABRICS FOR BEDS OF BILLIARD AND OTHER TABLES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Speciiieation forming part of Letters Patent No. 116,951, dated July 1l, 1871.

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS A. GRILL, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Fabric for Beds of Billiard and other Tables and for other purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, and in which- Figures l and 2 represent transverse sections, in planes at right angles to each other, of my improved fabric, Fig. 2 being a section through the line x x in Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

This invention, while applicable to beds of different kinds of tables and for other purposes, is more especially designed for the beds of billiardtables, and tables of other ball-games, such as bagatelle and parlor-croquet. By the use of it a bed for such tables may be produced which comi bines cheapnesswith truth or freedom from twist,

- and which presents in a high degree all the necessary qualications of a good bed for billiards and other ballgames of an analogous description. The invention consists of a fabric composed of wooden strips enveloped in a plastic substance or compound between facings of paper.

In the accompanying drawing, b b represent the wooden strips, arranged in any suitable number to run throughout the length or breadth of the fabric. c is the plastic substance in which said strips are enveloped, and l el the paper facings of the fabric. In such construction the wooden strips give the necessary strength to the fabric, the plastic substance the requisite shape and facility for leveling, and the paper facings the desirable finish on the exterior. Vhen used for a bed of a billiard or other similar table a covering of billiard-cloth may afterward be applied to the' one face of the fabric. The plastic substance in which the wooden strips are enveloped may be of any suitable kind that hardens when set; but I prefer to use a compound made up of three (3) parts by measure of asphaltulmand one (l) part of sawdust, and to apply the paper' coverings or facings to said compound when plastic by heat. This may be done and the fabric be made by stretching or laying the paper up against the opposite sides of a vertical frame, having the wooden strips arranged to extend throughout the interior thereof, so that on filling up the remaining space Within said frame with the heated -compound it will closely envelop the strips and adhere to the paper facings or coverings 5 or said frame may be laid horizontal, with one of the paper facings stretched over a smooth and level bottoni, andv the plastic compound be introduced from above to envelop the wooden strips, and subsequently the other paper facings applied to the top of the compound. The paper facing or facin gs it is desirable to have heavy or stout, and the same may be prepared so as to make it water-proof.

A solid bed suitable for billiard and other tables for ball-games may thus be made, which will be free from irregularities or depressions, and will present a good playingsurface. Its cheapness, too, as compared with marble or slate, is of great importance.

What is here claimed,and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

The within-described fabric, composed ofwooden strips enveloped in a plastic substance or compound and covered bypaper facings, substantially as specified.

LOUIS A. GRILL.

Witnesses:

HENRY T. BROWN, FRED HAYNES. 

